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First Jurors Selected for R. Kelly Trial

May 12, 2008 06:45 PM

by
findingDulcinea Staff

by findingDulcinea staff The wife of a Baptist preacher, a business executive and a telecommunications company employee have thus far been selected for the singer’s long-awaited child pornography trial.

Those three are the first to be selected from a pool of 150 potential jurors in the case against Grammy Award-winning R&B singer Robert “R” Kelly. The process began on May 9 and is expected to take about a week.

The high-profile nature of the trial is making jury selection a challenge for both the prosecution and the defense, reports MTV News. Experts say that attitudes about sex, celebrities and police will be the most relevant topics during jury questioning, not gender or race.

“What we have to look at is life experience. That’s what’s going to influence the way they respond to the evidence in the case, not just whether they are of one race or one religion or another. The bottom line is, cases like this trigger certain underlying issues, deep issues about racial prejudice and underage sexual relations,” says Chicago jury consultant and defense attorney Paul Lisnek.

R. Kelly, 40, is accused of videotaping himself having sex with an underage girl. He faces 14 counts of child pornography, including seven for directing and seven for producing. He has pleaded not guilty and faces 15 years in jail and a $100,000 fine.

Nonetheless, the singer has continued to record music and tour since being indicted. He recently released the single “Hair Braider,” from his album “12 Play: Fourth Quarter.”

California defense attorney Steve Cron said that a person would have to be “living under a rock” to be unfamiliar with the case, which was first reported on about six years ago. “You either have to say, ‘R. Kelly can never get a fair trial here,’ or ‘R. Kelly can get a fair trial, given the continuing publicity,’” said Cron. “Because when will you ever not have some publicity? It’s never going to go away.”

CNN reported in 2007 that R. Kelly’s trial would begin in September, five years after the accusations against him were first made. At that point, the trial had already been delayed by arguments over when the video was created and an incident in which the judge had an accident and needed to recuperate.